There were two things worth watching on TV last weekend, and one was vastly more entertaining than the other.

On Friday BBC Wales viewers were treated to a documentary exploring the life, career and abdication of The King, Barry John.

Among the footage shown was an archive of supernatural rugby skills described by Western Mail columnist Carolyn Hitt as “beautiful slow-motion sequences” showing the fly-half gliding through the opposition “with such will-o-the-wisp sorcery he might as well be invisible.”

Imagine how frustrated a Barry John in his prime might have felt at Murrayfield the following day during what can only be described as a penalty fiasco.

The decisions led to a massive 28 penalties being given in the 80 minutes and raised questions over the future of the scrum as a contest in rugby union.

Fans tore clumps of their hair out watching Wales beating Scotland, with over a quarter of the game being spent kicking penalties.

The opening weekend of this years Six Nations was breathlessly hailed as “the best ever” after a passionate Italy beat an ailing France, England retained the Calcutta Cup and Wales turned up for the second half against Ireland, albeit 40 minutes too late.

But in truth the tournament has been a bit of a damp squib since those opening games.

Let’s hope the Welsh squad have been watching that black and white footage of Barry John this week.

Gabby Logan’s bobble hat was a step too far

Credit where credit is due, the English know how to dress for winter.

Arguably more famous today for his pea-coat and scarf combinations than “that drop-goal,” Jeremy Guscott is a dedicated follower of fashion.

And his influence has clearly rubbed off on dashing Lawrence Dallaglio and the silver fox that is John Inverdale.

But this year the Welsh hit back in the Six Nations fashion stakes.

On the opening weekend, BBC coverage was led by Western Mail voted 10th best-dressed man in Wales, Mr Jason Mohammed, who was looking as dapper as ever.

Things were looking up, even Jiffy seemed to have bought a couple of new shirts.

That was until Gabby Logan took it too far at the Stade de France.

The former Welsh international gymnast turned TV presenter sported an extravagant winter hat as she was made to brave freezing temperatures in the Paris outdoor studio, causing a furore on Twitter, backlash on Facebook and ridicule in thousands of Welsh pubs.

The combination of a bobble hat and high heels may have been a step too far.

Rugby watching households debated how many animals had perished to construct the extravagant headpiece.

Tears were heard in London, Paris and Milan.

It is worth noting, however, that Martyn Williams and Sir Clive Woodward had nothing but the hairs on their head to keep them warm on that cold Paris night.

And that’s all without mentioning the towering heels she was draping all over the studio at last weekend’s Ireland-France encounter...

Shane Williams can still make a match-changing contribution

The man has rescued Wales from many a tight spot over the years, so it is no wonder that Welsh wing wizard Williams is still the go-to-guy in a crisis.

The BBC’s Six Nations coverage was thrown into disarray after lead commentator, Andrew Cotter, fell ill during Wales’s victory over Italy.

Cotter began his commentating duties at Stadio Olimpico but was forced to withdraw after just five minutes of the clash due to food poisoning.

In homes and pubs across the nation panic ensued as short-sighted rugby enthusiasts struggled to grasp what was happening on their TV’s.

Search parties were frantically called to find Eddie Butler’s whereabouts as Jonathan Davies held the fort on his own.

Then, when all hope was lost, emerging from a nearby phonebox, having answered the commentary SOS, came Shane, our superhero.

Williams raced from his role as a pitch-side pundit to join Davies in the unfamiliar upper echelons.

The duo blagged their way through the opening 40 minutes and Williams joked at half-time that he would rather be on the pitch.

Shane said: “The worst thing is the woman who took me up said: ‘Don’t worry there are only five million people listening to you!’

“I was petrified and if you had asked me to do it for the Ireland Scotland game, I’m afraid I’d have to tell you where to go.”

The man can do no wrong.

Twitter is officially the home of rugby banter

Former England captain Will Carling said this week that the Six Nations is “special, brilliant and gut wrenching” because it is played against neighbours.

“We all have mates who are Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Italian and even French... even I do, not that I admit it in public,” he said.

With victory comes bragging rights over those mates and neighbours, for an entire year.

Pre and post match banter has therefore, when done in the true spirit of competition, become an integral, funny and provoking sideshow for rugby fans during February and March.

Twitter is the tool of choice for mass communication.

Website users have become experts at stoking the artificial fires between nations.

Even the players themselves are at it, rallying the fans while eating out at Nando’s.

Rugby banter king Dai Lama has attracted over 21,000 followers on Twitter

This week he launched his “slambuster campaign” and has been poking fun at the likes of Stuart Lancaster and Owen Farrell ahead of Saturday.

While England have their own supreme wind-up merchant in Austin Healy who this week offered to bet “every person in Wales” £1 that England take the Six Nations title in Cardiff.

There are of course those who take it too far.

Sam Warburton’s father Jezz and English commentator Brian Moore both temporarily left Twitter this year due to the amount of abuse they were receiving from Trolls.

But thankfully the good-natured Twitter users outnumber the bad.

Like David Hasselhoff who tweeted: “Wales and England Six Nations Title!! Who’s gonna take it ?? Doesn’t get any better than this?”Well said the Hoff.

The European climate is getting worse

For generations we have been in awe of the southern hemisphere and their exciting, attractive, fast-paced, expansive rugby, pleasing to the eye and brilliantly flowing.

But how much of it is simply down to the balmy climate in Australia, New Zealand and the south sea islands?

What hope have we of emulating such feasts for the eye when the weather in Europe seems to be getting worse, making ball handling alone challenging enough.

We thought the 2012 Six Nations was bad, when snow fell in Rome for the first time in 26 years.

France’s home fixture against Ireland was postponed 10 minutes before the game was due to start due to a frozen pitch.

But this year is proof that things aren’t set to get any better in the future.

Nobody watching the Wales under 20 match against Italy a few weeks ago will have failed to feel sorry for the brave boys covered head to toe in mud, with steam pouring from their bodies, shivering uncontrollably during breaks in play while battling for their countries.

The Stade de France pitch meanwhile was so waterlogged that the Welsh scrum has since been nominated to enter next year’s national ploughing championships in Paris.

If little Shane Williams was still playing he could well have been devoured by one of the many sink holes carved open by Adam Jones during the match.

Of course here in Wales we successfully predicted climate change, and addressed the problem by building a roof on our stadium.

But if fellow nations don’t follow our lead, there will inevitably be calls for rugby to be played as a summer sport in years to come.

Sir Clive is as bad as the other English pundits

We love a passionate patriot in Wales no matter where they are from. We’ve got nothing against those who proudly pin their colours to their chest.

There is no greater sight than seeing big friendly giant Jamie Roberts welling up in Paris.

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